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At 4:21 on Saturday morning, US President Donald Trump sent a message on his Truth Social platform: the United States had carried out a daring mission to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. The action came as a surprise, but according to sources familiar with the matter, planning for one of the most complex US operations in recent memory had been in the works for some time and included detailed rehearsals. Elite US troops, including the Army's Delta Force, created an exact replica of Maduro's safe house and practiced how they would enter the strongly fortified residence. The CIA had a small team on the ground starting in August who were able to provide insight into Maduro's pattern of life that made grabbing him seamless, according to one source familiar with the matter. Two other sources told Reuters the intelligence agency also had an asset close to Maduro who would monitor his movements and was poised to pinpoint his exact location as the operat...

Russia condemned the US military action in Venezuela on Saturday and demanded "immediate" clarification about what happened to Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, who US President Donald Trump said was captured by US forces. Venezuela is Russia's most important ally in South America, though the Kremlin has stopped short of offering assistance to Caracas in the event of a conflict with the US. Early Saturday, "the United States committed an act of armed aggression against Venezuela. This is deeply concerning and condemnable," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. "The pretexts used to justify such actions are untenable. Ideological hostility has triumphed over businesslike pragmatism," it added. In a later statement, the ministry said it was "extremely alarmed by reports that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were forcibly removed from the country as a result of today's US aggression". "We call for an imm...

Swiss investigators said Friday that they believe sparkling flares atop Champagne bottles ignited the fatal fire at a ski resort when they came too close to a crowded bar's ceiling. Forty people were killed, and another 119 were injured in the blaze as it ripped through the busy Le Constellation bar at the ski resort of Crans-Montana while revellers were celebrating New Year's Eve, authorities said. Among the crowd was Axel Clavier, a 16-year-old from Paris, who said he felt as if he was suffocating inside the Swiss Alpine bar where moments before he had been ringing in the new year with friends and dozens of other people. The teenager escaped the inferno, which broke out early Thursday, by forcing a window open with a table. But about 40 other partygoers died, including one of Clavier's friends, falling victim to one of the worst tragedies in Switzerland's history. Many of the wounded were in their teens to mid-20s, police said. Clavier told The Associated Press t...

The municipal elections in Maharashtra, already a hot topic across the state, has got juicier, with allegations that a contest in Pune got duplicate candidates from Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and one of them, upset at the news, tore up and ate the AB form of his rival in public.  Machhindra Davale and Uddhav Kamble were given AB forms by the Shiv Sena from Ward No. 36A in the Dhankawadi-Sahakarnagar area of Pune.  Uddhav Kamble had allegedly found out when he went to file his papers at the Election Commission. The proof in hand, he allegedly tore it and promptly swallowed the balled up pieces in full view of the Election Commission officials. A police case has been filed and his in-house rival said he has been asked to file duplicate papers. Sources said the police have taken this act very seriously.  The police said that the complaint from the Election Commission was that Kamble had taken Davale's form during scrutiny, tore it up and put it in his mouth and rushed tow...

Even as Aditya Dhar's Dhurandhar continues its triumphant box-office run, Sriram Raghavan has made it clear that the blockbuster spy thriller sits firmly outside his own creative comfort zone.  Speaking to The Hindu ahead of the release of his next film, Ikkis , Raghavan explained why the Ranveer Singh-starrer, despite being well-crafted, represents a cinematic language he would not personally adopt. Why Dhurandhar's Success Does Not Define His Filmmaking Choices Addressing comparisons between Dhurandhar and the kind of spy films he and his brother Shridhar Raghavan have made in the past, Sriram stressed that it is less about quality and more about worldview. "It is a well-made film with terrific performances, but it is not our kind of film. We must understand that we are living in different times. The earlier James Bond films starring Sean Connery and Roger Moore were fun movies. Later on, Bond films started to get serious. Dhurandhar is one movie. It is doing spe...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his condolence letter to Tarique Rahman - the son of Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and the acting chairman leader of Bangladesh Nationalist Party - recalled his association with her and expressed hope that the people of Bangladesh, who have shown "remarkable strength and dignity throughout their history... will continue to be guided by their shared values, democratic traditions, and a deep sense of national unity". PM Modi's letter was delivered today by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who represented India at the funeral of Khaleda Zia. On arrival in Dhaka, met with Mr Tarique Rahman @trahmanbnp , Acting Chairman of BNP and son of former PM of Bangladesh Begum Khaleda Zia. Handed over to him a personal letter from Prime Minister @narendramodi . Conveyed deepest condolences on behalf of the Government and… pic.twitter.com/xXNwJsRTmZ — Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) December 31, 2025 Expressing his ...